Not to be outdone, I too am detecting a little green here and there in my brokerage accounts (real return bonds, corporate bonds and emerging markets). Long live the cliché! May the green shoots become bountiful "hay" along with a few long-lasting Douglas fir.

... if I may be so bold, here's the next cliché we should look out for - the "choking weeds of inflation". As any Canadian knows, dandelions and other weeds follow quickly after the appearance of the real green shoots of spring and so shall inflation almost surely follow the massive stimulus and monetary expansion governments have deployed to combat the recession.